The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2026
Four solar sellers bought 'No.1 satisfaction' badges — Japan charged them ¥44.83M
'No.1 satisfaction' claims rested on surveys that never asked if respondents used the service. Japan ordered ¥44.83M in surcharges from four solar sellers.
S-E Life · Frontier Japan · SC Agent · Anshinrai Home · 2026-03-17
What happened
Four regional sellers and installers of residential solar power and storage batteries ran 'No.1' claims on their own websites: Frontier Japan claimed a 'triple crown of customer satisfaction' for Hokkaido solar providers, S-E Life claimed first place for after-sales support satisfaction on home batteries, SC Agent and Anshinrai Home claimed similar top rankings in their regions, alongside inflated installation-count claims.
The rankings came from commissioned surveys that did not check whether respondents had actually used the services — the Consumer Affairs Agency found the method was not objective. In February–March 2024 all four companies received action orders stopping the displays. The money followed later.
On 17 March 2026 the CAA issued surcharge payment orders under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations: ¥20.69M for S-E Life (displays March–November 2023), ¥11.19M for Frontier Japan (June 2022–November 2023), ¥8.26M for Anshinrai Home, ¥4.69M for SC Agent — ¥44.83M in total, payable by 19 October 2026.
Why it happened
- The surveys behind the No.1 badges never verified that respondents had used the companies at all — a ranking of non-customers is not a ranking.
- Action orders in early 2024 stopped the displays but did not end the liability: Japan's surcharge regime bills the sales the claims helped make.
- Each company ran the claims on its own website for months — long-running own-site displays were treated as continuous misleading representation.
The lesson
A 'No.1' badge is only as real as the survey behind it — awards that never checked customers cost four solar sellers ¥44.83M. Rent nothing you cannot defend.
Aftermath
The four surcharge orders were part of the fallout from the CAA's 2024 concentrated enforcement against rented 'No.1' claims. The companies paid or contested the orders individually; for the solar-installation sector the orders turned a common marketing shortcut — buying a first-place badge — into a quantified liability.
Sources
- Japan Fair Trade Commission press release: surcharge payment orders against four solar power system sellers (17 March 2026)
- Consumer Affairs Agency of Japan: surcharge payment order notice (17 March 2026)
- Tsuhanshinbun: improper 'No.1' claims on own sites — surcharges on four storage-battery and solar sellers
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